The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-05-14
SpeciaI Contributors.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Historical.
BY REV. AUGUSTA j. CHAPLIN.
(Oak Park, Ill.)

(Oak Park, 1ll)
In the early years of Christian his
tory, nothing was heard Of the Holy
Spirit as doctrine. At first it was a
gift-an experience-a power in the
soul Of the believer. But doctrine
afterward grew up, side by side with
the companion members of the Trinity,
though it was the last to be formally
added to the Christian statement of the
mode of the Divine existence. The
history of the doctrine of the Holy
Ghost is the history of the doctrine Of
the Trinity and this is not a peculiarly
Christian doctrine, though such is the
popular supposition. We can trace the
doctrine of the Trinity back in the mys-
tical philosophy of Egypt, until its ori
gin is removed to remote and un-
known past. With the Egyptians,
whatever was perfect must have three
parts. Mans nature was divided into an
imal, mental, and spiritual. They con-
ceived of God as divided into three parts
or persons. Later on, each city had it's
own trinity made up of its special or
favorite gods. The most famous of
these Egyptian trinities was made up
of the three deities, Osiris, Isis, and
Horus father, mother, and son.
iikinsonsays, tpsgc 1e5,.s staese'
triads the third member proceeded from
the other two; that is, from the first
and second the third member
Of the triad, as might be supposed, was
not of equal rank with the two from
whom it proceeded"
The Egyptian, "Hail, trimorphous
God," reminds one of the modern, al
most Identical expression, Triune
God - and the expression Holy Ghost
proceeding from the Father and the Son,
must surely have had an Egyptian orr
gin, though it came to us through the
Greek philosophy. The same idea of
the Trinity is found in India. One
deity presided over the earth, another
over the mid-air or heaven, and third
over the sun. These three are one,
said the Hindoos, 1000 years before
Christ.
In later centuries another sect grew
up and named the Trinity as Brahma,
the creative power, Vishnu, the pre-
serving power, and silva, the trans
forming power. This trimurti or trim
ity is found portrayed as being with
three heads upon one body.
Coming down to the fourth century
before Christ, we find Plato imbued
with the oriental thought, and adopt
ing the Egyptian idea of the divine
Being, as existing in three forms: The
Agdth0n or first cause the Logos or
Reason; the Soul or Spirit of the Uni
verse.
There are suggestions of this incom-
ing of the Egyptian and Platonic phil
osophy in the Apochryphal writings of
the Jews. In the wisdom of Solomon,
of date $50 B. c., we read, "God made
all things by his word and ordained man
by his wisdom"
The victories Of Alexander carried
the civilization and philosophy of Greece
throughoutthe East, and especially into
such cities as Antioch and Alexandria.
All the civilized and scholarly world
was permeated by this idea from that
time on, to the time of Philo, who
flourished only quarter of century
before Christ. He wrote, there is one
supreme God, and another who is his
LOgos."
Only the Jews had withstood this in
fluence, and were incorruptibly believ-
ers in one God. But though trinitarian
views were not adopted by them, their
scholarly men like Philo, were infected
by it, and it found its way into their
calculations of the Scriptures. Into
the midst of this pagan philosophy,
Jesus and his disciples came preaching
the pure and simple ideas of the new
religion. "This is life eternal" said
Jesus, "that they may know thee, and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. !"
Again he said, 81 go unto the Father,
for my Father is greater than l." "To
us" said Paul, "there is one God, the
Father, of whom are all things, and we
unto him; and one Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things, and we
through him." Cor. viii. s, Or. W